Our society is always changing and utilizing different tools and techniques to survive daily living. One technique is adapting literature to make it more current for today’s society. However, modernizations are often critiqued harshly by society, whether it be a positive or negative one.

But how do modernizations contribute to society? Modernizations in literature adaptations allow for a broader more diverse audience. These are typically people who do not have time to read the book but still want to get a feel of what it is about or people who love the book so much that they want to see how others view the text. By opening up the text to a broader audience, directors have the ability to change the text how they see fit, in order to keep the viewers on the edge of their seats throughout.

Modernizations have allowed for a more diverse group of people to be represented in adaptations. This can include utilizing different cultures, genders, or races when adapting a film. In Elementary, a television show that is an adaptation of the great detective, Sherlock Holmes, the director utilizes gender-bending and racial diversity by casting Lucy Liu as Dr. Watson, a character that is usually played by a white male. This casting choice allows for not only diversity in an all-white, male cast, but also for women empowerment. Nowadays, people love seeing women in roles where it is more typical to see a male, like in a superhero movie. Directors are creating more movies like Captain Marvel, a movie that is set before any other superhero movie and stars a female as the lead crime fighter instead of most superhero movies that star men as the lead. Captain Marvel is the eighth most profitable superhero movie ever which goes to show that people are just engaged in women as men being the lead role (Box Office Mojo). By opening up Dr. Watson to be played by a female actor, it also allows for more people to be able to relate to what she goes through being a woman in a job (detective) stereotypically played by men. This decision fits modern times because now women are allowed to take on any role that men can, such as being an actor, doctor, detective, construction worker, etc. By not limiting the gender of Dr. Watson, Elementaryis able to provide a modern-day twist to Sherlock Holmes. This, in turn, opens up the role for people of any gender or race to play roles they never have before.

Modernizations are not limited to only who is cast to play each character but can also relate to where the scene is set. This can contribute to the cultural aspect of the adaptation. Bride and Prejudicea Bollywood spin on the American classic Pride and Prejudice written by Jane Austen allows the audience to be introduced to Indian culture and traditions. This movie shows the hardships of multicultural relationships and what it is like learning a new culture. This also shines a light on different parts of Pride and Prejudiceby placing emphasis on the parts that are more related to Indian culture. Bride and Prejudice focus more on the dances and family aspect, which allows for the audience to stay more engaged due to the singing and dancing rather than in the typical adaptations of Pride and Prejudice. This modernization allows for people who may not be able to go to India and experience Indian culture the ability to understand where they are coming from, how their culture differs, and open their horizons to other cultures, but as a Pride and Prejudiceversion. 

On the other hand, fidelity, or how true an adaptation remains to the original piece of work, is a critical role in making a modernization successful (Denton). A piece can make something modern by adding the use of technology, gender-bending, or color conscious casting and as long as it remains faithful to the original story then it will be successful. Staying faithful to a piece of work means that you are staying true to the plot and how the characters are being represented. Although, occasionally, plot twists are acceptable and enjoyed most fan bases do not appreciate when an adaptation is completely different from the book. However, it is impossible to completely maintain the fidelity of a book when adapting it into a movie because you are working with a different audience, technology like cameras and screens, and in a shorter time frame. It is quite impossible to fit an entire book in a film that is short enough, and action-packed to keep the attention of the audience. Also, films reach an audience in the way a book never could. They give the audience a picture of how the characters act by themselves and in response to other characters, clarify the book, and see if how they viewed the book in the same way as others. Therefore, adapting a book into a film is highly relevant in today’s society and by modernizing it you are making it more understandable and relatable.

Although adaptations in the true sense require keeping the spirit of an original piece, people still have the ability to make them modern (Allen). Adaptations allow for today’s society to enjoy and learn from a text that they might not otherwise have read. Older texts like Pride and Prejudiceoffer a lot of knowledge on romance but can seem outdated at times. A way to make a piece of literature seem more current is through the use of technology since it plays a vital role in today’s society. Adaptations like The Lizzie Bennett Diarieswere created for this reason. LBD is an adaptation of Pride and Prejudicethat is brought across as vlogs and utilizes modern language and examples to share Elizabeth Bennett’s love story in order to make it more relevant to teens of today. The setting of Regency England can be hard for an audience of the 21^stcentury to relate to and understand, so by placing LBD in current San Francisco and using social media to tell the story, it makes a younger audience enjoy it more. This also gives young girls the dream to fall in love with a handsome and wealthy man like Darcy because it is in a time and place where it could happen to them as well. By utilizing vlogs and social media as a way to modernize a text you are allowing for the literature to reach a broader audience.

Adaptations that stay as true to the literature as possible but add some sort of modern take to it are often the most popular for viewers to watch. Modernizations can happen in any form and allow an audience to see a new aspect of tradition literature. By utilizing technology, gender-bending, and color-conscious casting a film is able to reach out and touch more people than ever before which in turn allows for the audience to take these messages from the adaptations and apply them to their own life.

Works Cited

• Allen, Brooke. “Adapting the Classic.” The Hudson Review, The Hudson Review, hudsonreview.com/2014/02/adapting-the-classic/#.XMmCpC-ZOqC.

• Austen, Jane. Shapard, David. “The Annotated Pride and Prejudice (Interactive Edition)” by Jane Austen & David M. Shapard on iBooks. IBooks.

• Denton, Siobhan. “Book Adaptations And The Fidelity Argument.” Film Inquiry, Film Inquiry, 13 Apr. 2017, http://www.filminquiry.com/book-adaptations-fidelity-argument/.

• “Lizzie Bennet Diaries.” YouTube, uploaded by Hank Green, 2014, https://www.youtube.com/user/LizzieBennet

• Mayeda Berges et al. Bride & Prejudice. Pathé Distribution and Miramax Films, 2004.

• “Superhero.” Box Office Mojo, IMDb, 2019, http://www.boxofficemojo.com/genres/chart/?id=superhero.htm.

Adaptations allow for modernizations of texts. The Elementaryepisode titled “Hounded” adds a unique and new spin to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s novel The Hound of the Baskervilles.

In the beginning of the episode, we see Sir Charles Baskerville running in fear from an unknown creature until he looks back to see what it is, falls into the street, and gets hit by a semitruck. The death of Sir Charles leads to the idea that a suspicious, unnatural being is haunting the Baskerville name and fortune. This allows for Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson to take on the case of the Baskerville mansion from Henry Baskerville, Charles’s brother.

Elementary took a different spin on the traditional characters when casting for the show. Instead of the typical Caucasian male taking on the infamous role of Dr. Watson, Lucy Liu, an Asian-American actress, was cast as this leading role. This casting choice allowed for diversity in a cast that typically consists of mostly white males aside from love interests or potential victims. This decision allows for female empowerment and more people to relate to this show—it shows that women can be doctors, as smart as men, and take on a role that is usually male. This is also significant because Dr. Watson can now see things from a female point of view, which can provide insights a male may have missed. It was also nice to see that she does not play as a love interest to Holmes and that they keep their relationship strictly business unlike a lot of other male-female partnerships. Lucy Liu portrayed Dr. Watson in a great way and made the show even more enjoyable.

A main aspect of this episode was Holmes conversing with the mortician, M.E. Hawes, about his previous traumatic encounter with the bombing at the morgue. Personally, I did not like that this played such a big role in it because I had never seen an episode of Elementarybefore. However, I could see how it is important to keeping a storyline throughout a couple of episodes or a season and the development of Sherlock’s character. Typically, Sherlock is seen as intelligent but arrogant, however in this episode he is very compassionate with M.E. Hawes and what he went through. Holmes takes the time to leave the crime scene from the Baskerville case to play chess and talk with Hawes to make sure he is okay even when Holmes knows he is not. This shows that Holmes cares about than just himself and wants to make sure the people in his life are okay.

Another big modernization of the Hound of the Baskervillesepisode of Elementarywas the use of technology. Technology is used in this episode to captivate a younger audience who is more technologically savvy, help Holmes and Dr. Watson find suspects and catch the criminal, and put a spin on who the hound is. Using a green screen and other technology throughout the episode allowed for the directors to create a dog that could light up green when in a dark room. Seeing this threw off Sherlock and Watson when starting their investigation of who the Baskerville killer was because they believed the dog to be the “hound”. Instead, the “hound” ended up being a government issued robot that lights up and can be controlled from any location. This added to making this adaptation different from the novel because in the novel the “hound” is actually a dog, which personally I preferred over the robot version.I give this episode a 4-star rating because it captivated my attention throughout the forty minutes. The episode also stayed true to the original plotline of the book, but it had a lot of changes throughout, especially with the big plot twist at the end of the story. This made me appreciate the parts stay true to the novel, but also had me completely shocked when parts differed. This also made the story suspenseful throughout. I appreciated how Dr. Watson was female in this adaptation instead of the typical white male. I was super shocked when who I predicted to be the killer was not the killer, and I was confused as to why the mortician was such a big focus. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this episode of The Hound of the Baskervilleseven with the modernization.

When adapting a famous piece of literature such as Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, the director and script writers must stay true to the novel but differ enough to make the story interesting and different from other adaptations. One way of doing this is through the use of time, place, and social environment which all play a huge role in developing the setting of a story. Setting is important because it can impact the way an audience views the adaptation, as well as how the characters interact and develop with each other and their environment.

The Pride and Prejudiceadaptation starring Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Bennet and Matthew Macfadyen as Mr. Darcy stays very faithful to the novel and is set in England. However, the setting is more dramatic in this movie than in the original book. In the scene when Darcy proclaims his love to Elizabeth, it begins by Elizabeth running through the rain with dramatic instrumental music playing in the background and Darcy following her without her knowledge until they reach the gazebo. Once here, the music stops, and Darcy starts to confess his love for Elizabeth until Elizabeth goes off about how she could never love a man like him. The rain and music place an emphasis on how important this scene is to the movie and to the development of Darcy and Elizabeth’s feelings for one another. It also makes the scene more dramatic and suspenseful for the viewers watching it. This makes the audience hopeful that Elizabeth and Darcy will end up together because the rain usually leads to two characters kissing but they are wrong and left with Darcy walking away and Elizabeth with a blank look on her face. In the book this scene isn’t as suspenseful because Darcy comes and knocks on Elizabeth’s door and they have this conversation in the house.

In the second adaptation I watched, Bride and Prejudice, the setting plays a key role in the casting of actors, their roles and relationships, and the culture of the people. This adaptation is set in India which allowed for Pride and Prejudiceto take a Bollywood spin. Due to its being set in India, there are different cultural norms. For example, throughout the movie no one kissed, but in Indian culture each wedding consists of three days’ worth of celebration. Also, in this adaptation they focus a lot more on the dances and family aspect of Pride and Prejudicethan anything else. Being set in India also makes Darcy and Elizabeth different than any other adaptation because Darcy is unable to understand a lot of the Indian culture and why Elizabeth acts the way that she does.

Personally, I thoroughly enjoyed watching the adaptations of Pride and Prejudice. The Keira Knightley one captured my interest because it stayed true to the novel and allowed me to see and understand the characters and plot development on a deeper level. However, I liked the Bride and Prejudiceadaptation the best because it was a musical with a ton of dancing and singing involved. It also taught me a new dance move, “screwing the lightbulb and petting the dog,” and therefore more about the Indian culture. Overall, I found it very beneficial to watch these adaptations and would watch more of them.

The different settings of the two adaptations play a key role in allowing the audience to further understand the text and to bring a new, modern spin on the original text. It also allows the audience to see the characters act out their different emotions and understand different cultures.

Have you ever skipped over stage directions while reading a play and not realized how important they are until viewing the play live? Well that’s how the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company’s production of August Wilson’s well-known play Fenceswas for me. The placement of actors in specific locations during different scenes brought this play to life because it elicited a variety of emotions from the audience.

By utilizing the staircase leading from the backyard to the porch of the Maxson’s house, the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company allows for the audience to personally connect to the emotional aspect of each character. Throughout the play, each character spends time on the staircase and during each moment the audience reacts in different ways. Whether it be through laughter when Troy and lifelong friend Bono joke around with each other and tell stories or with tears and chills when Raynell and Cory sing “Old Blue” together before they go to Troy’s funeral. Whether it brings about tears or laughter the actors being placed on the staircase is essential to bringing about the audience’s emotions.

During the play, as a member of the audience, I felt Rose’s rage and pain when Troy stands below her on the porch steps and explains to her that he is having a child with another woman. By having Rose positioned above Troy it gave her a sense of empowerment and the strength to stand up to him. This is important because throughout the play Troy treats Rose as though she is just another woman and takes her for granted, but in this scene she is courageous. This allows for the audience to stand in Rose’s shoes and feel her built up anger at Troy, but also to see the strong woman that she is for willingly offering herself as Raynell’s mother. At this time, the audience feels sympathetic towards Rose and Raynell and knows that if Raynell is being cared by Rose she is in very capable hands. Personally, I also felt like cheering for Rose at this moment for being brave enough to stand up to Troy knowing that she is risking her Also, during this scene, Gabe Maxson, Troy’s brother, comes barging in and stands in between Rose and Troy on the stairs. This shows Gabe’s innocence and obliviousness to what is going on around him due because of his traumatic brain injury. Being directed to stand in the middle of Troy and Rose infuriated me, a member of the audience. The entire time I just wanted to yell at him to move out of the way and stop talking so that I could focus on the dialogue between Rose and Troy. This specific scene on the staircase with Rose standing above Troy shows how she has taken control of her own life and is not allowing Troy into their house, which is a passageway to her heart and elicits a multitude of different emotions from the audience.

Although the breaking of character and the casting was not flawless, the play overall was very entertaining. The blocking in the play Fencesfurther shows how the characters develop in the play and their relationships with each other which in turn evokes an assortment of emotions.

My name is Jillian Berry and I am a Xavier University student from Southern California. I thoroughly enjoy the beach, Disney, and spending time with my family and friends. I love to travel and experience new cultures and food from around the world. My goal in life is to travel to each continent, including Antartica, and even maybe travel to each country. I am extremely adventurous and like to go outside and serve my surrounding community. I take pleasure in working with people, especially children, and am still on my way to finding my life’s vocation.

I am creating this blog post to compare and contrast adaptations in the digital age. I will be discussing the books and movies from Fences, Pride and Prejudice, and The Hound of the Baskervilles. I am excited to share my opinions and experiences with each book and adaptations on the book.

Thanks for joining me!

“What makes a good book and what makes a good movie are totally different things.”

-Set Grahame-Smith